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Photo gallery: The suffering of the Syrian people

For months now, Syria's largest city, Aleppo, has been a battleground. These pictures, taken in Aleppo by the photojournalist Daniel Etter in July and August this year, tell a tale of violence and suffering - and also hope.

Fighting for every street: for months now, Syria's largest city, Aleppo, has been a battleground, caught between rebel and government forces. These pictures, taken in Aleppo by the photojournalist Daniel Etter in July and August this year, tell a tale of violence, suffering and, occasionally, hope.

Grieving parents: Fatima Akramah and her family mourn their son Habib Atta Hassan Akramah in the town of Marea south of Aleppo. He was allegedly arrested, tortured and killed by government militias.

Temporary victory: the battle for the town of Asas north of Aleppo lasted several weeks. It ended with 60 government soldiers holed up inside this mosque, where they were besieged for 10 days. After capturing the mosque, the rebels moved on to Aleppo.

Overwhelmed: family and neighbors bury Habib Atta Hassan Akramah. The gravediggers of Marea are kept busy around the clock, digging graves for people who have not yet died.

Living in a classroom: this young mother found shelter in a school in Asas, alongside several hundred other refugees. From here it's not far to the Turkish border. Around 100,000 Syrians have already fled to Turkey.

Written in blood: a baker's assistant had a portrait of the Assad family tattooed onto his chest. When the rebels took Aleppo, he slashed the images and cried, "I shed my blood for the Free Syrian Army."

Outsiders: rebels take a break during a street battle in Aleppo. Most of the opposition fighters are from the countryside, and city-dwellers are wary of this rebel army of deserted soldiers, farmers and truck drivers.

On the front line: Hajji Marea, 33, is a commander of the rebel army in the battle for Aleppo. Before the civil war he was a seed merchant. The school serving as his headquarters when this photo was taken was destroyed in an air raid a few days later.

In rebel hands: the opposition's prisoners praying in a makeshift jail in a school. The guards say they want to do things better than the regime, and that the prisoners will be given a trial. Nonetheless, some of them have clearly been abused.

Uneven fight: the rebels are fighting with Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades against tanks, helicopters and fighter jets. It's an unequal battle, but they are managing to hold a large part of Aleppo. The city's Salahaddin quarter has seen the heaviest fighting.

Watching the skies: two children look up fearfully at fighter jets in the skies from the balcony of their darkened apartment in Aleppo. The pilots fire repeatedly into the streets, apparently at random.

Hospitals under fire: the hospitals in the rebel-held parts of Aleppo come under fire from fighter jets on an almost daily basis. The doctors only attend to the wounded in these blood-smeared rooms on the ground floor because this is where they are least at risk.

Surveying the damage: rockets fired by government fighter jets slam into apartment buildings in Aleppo every day. Here, the inhabitants of an apartment in the Al-Shaar district examine the wreckage of their home.

Away from the fighting: as the battle rages just a few blocks away, these boys enjoy a sunny afternoon at the pool. A few days later, the pool was targeted by a fighter jet. Fortunately, it was empty at the time.

War games: a boy in the town of Asas north of Aleppo uses a tank as a climbing frame. Later, 40 civilians died when a fighter dropped a bomb close to where this photo was taken.

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